FSW WORLDWIDE

[Alysson]

So in less than a month from Landing here as a newcomer, I have gotten myself a job in my field (I work non-IT, non engineering procurement) to support my expenses during these cold winter months. And while I have rented out a room in someone's townhouse at the moment, I was happy to think about finally having a full time job and getting my own apartment... until I saw the rents. Turns out, I will be staying with roommates probably forever. This is insane, I knew it was bad but this is just insane and I am not even married yet!

I was doing some research on how to increase my income potential but inadvertently fell into the trap of watching and reading about how it is so bad for people who make the median yearly wage here, which is 50k pre taxes. It was quite a spiral and very difficult to not feel stressed out and sad. I also planned to sell off some property in India and invest in Canada but I have lost all confidence in this scam/bubble economy.
I came here with plans of starting and operating a small business mindset, but that is completely impossible in Toronto. I will be visiting London soon and I have a friend there who started his thing from scratch and is doing quite well there.. but he started in like 2019, what a time that was.

There is no way I will be able to start a family if I continue working in Procurement. I am 28 now and I feel lost, and the only way I see out is getting into IT. Not too late but still a massive hurdle. Any suggestions? Is Trades a better idea than IT? Is there anything that is non IT and also pays decently well if I make all the right moves and decisions career wise? Or should I stick to Procurement and get deeper specialization in that?
Forum members, chime in please.

Yeah you should move somewhere farther from Toronto if your job prospects is only 50k. I used to live in Windsor and you can live okay there with that amount as a single person. In London it will be a bit more expensive but still doable, specially if you don’t make car payments. In Windsor there were studio rentals for 1000 when I first arrived and 1b for 1200. I don’t think it changed much there. I only used their transit(pretty shitty if you don’t live and work in north Windsor) went out every weekend and still was able to save over 1k per month.

 

[Deleted member 1083629]

This is why I always prefer self-petition

There was a poster here like 2-3 pages back who was choosing between Canadian PR or potential GR lol. You should tag her/him. That's like a perfect answer to her/his question.

 

[Deleted member 1083629]

If you want to switch to IT, maybe you can try the study route? Fees should be manageable as a PR.

Yeah, and competition is insane. Interviews in Canada are the hardest ones I have ever encountered. I mentioned here that I had an offer from Uber in Netherlands. In Canada, I couldn't even pass the 1st round; same position, same department, same level of seniority.

 

[Deleted member 1083629]

No newcomer should go to ON unless they are coming with loads and loads of money.

Tech jobs are in ON.

 

[Deleted member 1083629]

So in less than a month from Landing here as a newcomer, I have gotten myself a job in my field (I work non-IT, non engineering procurement) to support my expenses during these cold winter months. And while I have rented out a room in someone's townhouse at the moment, I was happy to think about finally having a full time job and getting my own apartment... until I saw the rents. Turns out, I will be staying with roommates probably forever. This is insane, I knew it was bad but this is just insane and I am not even married yet!

I was doing some research on how to increase my income potential but inadvertently fell into the trap of watching and reading about how it is so bad for people who make the median yearly wage here, which is 50k pre taxes. It was quite a spiral and very difficult to not feel stressed out and sad. I also planned to sell off some property in India and invest in Canada but I have lost all confidence in this scam/bubble economy.
I came here with plans of starting and operating a small business mindset, but that is completely impossible in Toronto. I will be visiting London soon and I have a friend there who started his thing from scratch and is doing quite well there.. but he started in like 2019, what a time that was.

There is no way I will be able to start a family if I continue working in Procurement. I am 28 now and I feel lost, and the only way I see out is getting into IT. Not too late but still a massive hurdle. Any suggestions? Is Trades a better idea than IT? Is there anything that is non IT and also pays decently well if I make all the right moves and decisions career wise? Or should I stick to Procurement and get deeper specialization in that?
Forum members, chime in please.

Ah, my friend. Welcome to Toronto.

If you make 50K, you cannot afford Toronto. As a matter of fact, if you make 100K you cannot afford Toronto. 150 and up maybe. You also came in the worst rental market ever. Place I wanted to rent in 2019 for 1600 CAD (1 BDR) costs 2400 CAD right now. You are not alone in your worries. Many Canadians are priced out of Toronto. You have 2 options. Option 1: keep your expenses as low as possible, wait this period out. Option 2: Go back home and wait this period out. Prices should go down as soon as central bank lowers interest rate.

 

[imransyed]

If you want to switch to IT, maybe you can try the study route? Fees should be manageable as a PR.

Yes, IT or not, I want to study. I have a shitty Bachelor's with not that decent grades so I really want to study further and improve myself.

If you are from the IT field, do you have suggestions from me? I have devoured hours of youtube videos but they all of them seem click baity.

So I have seen people do few interesting things. If for instance you have couple of brothers, you together can first rent and then buy a big home. There are savings in that. Its same as sharing model you are living in right now, just that you will be living with your bros or cousins. 3 people sharing a TH rented for CDN 3500 will put a burden of 1200 per person. There will be savings in food etc as well. Local are doing this with strangers... you can try this with family.

I mean think about it. https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/25216198/27-harfleur-rd-toronto-lamoreaux . You won't be able to afford this alone. 1.5 mil. BUT you can certainly afford it with 2 more cousins / bros. Have divided interest. 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. 500K per brother is still thinkable. Compare this with a TH which will go for 800-900K with a stupid strata to deal with and pay strata fee. Its like all old is now becoming new. Joint families coming back in fashion.

Also, since you are a non-IT/non-engineering guy, why are you limiting yourself to Toronto? Try Edmonton? Or Calgary?

If you want to start a career in IT, it is possible. But know this, IT is and will keep on becoming more and more top heavy with starting options becoming more and more automated or removed.

I landed here with my brother. He is on a study permit and his uni is in Toronto.. so he is way worse off than I am because he absolutely cannot move anywhere. But we are certainly considering to rent one place together. Get this though, he is living with his friends and paying approx 300 a month and I have a room of my own nearby in a TH and I am paying 800 a month, both all inclusive. Still cheaper than renting a house or an apartment.

I am limiting myself to Toronto coz, first my younger brother is here, secondly I really want to study further and if I wanna do that, I have a lot of options in Toronto (i think) and third, its the winter, I dont have a car and its my first time here. I might not be in Toronto once it gets warm.

Honestly when it comes to opportunities in IT, I must start somewhere, right? I don't know anything about the industry but I am sure with some proper training and education, I will be able to find something for myself... right?

Absolutely no reason for you to tie yourself to Toronto, or even ON for that matter. You are young and without baggage. Try other provinces, you'll probably still get work in your field with much more reduced cost of living.

No newcomer should go to ON unless they are coming with loads and loads of money.

Thanks. I will be doing that once the winter is over. I did not know ON would be this bad before coming here. And people who have been here say it has gotten this bad only after the inflation and housing bubble post covid. Was manageable before.

Yeah you should move somewhere farther from Toronto if your job prospects is only 50k. I used to live in Windsor and you can live okay there with that amount as a single person. In London it will be a bit more expensive but still doable, specially if you don’t make car payments. In Windsor there were studio rentals for 1000 when I first arrived and 1b for 1200. I don’t think it changed much there. I only used their transit(pretty shitty if you don’t live and work in north Windsor) went out every weekend and still was able to save over 1k per month.

I have been looking at Windsor too.

Ah, my friend. Welcome to Toronto.

If you make 50K, you cannot afford Toronto. As a matter of fact, if you make 100K you cannot afford Toronto. 150 and up maybe. You also came in the worst rental market ever. Place I wanted to rent in 2019 for 1600 CAD (1 BDR) costs 2400 CAD right now. You are not alone in your worries. Many Canadians are priced out of Toronto. You have 2 options. Option 1: keep your expenses as low as possible, wait this period out. Option 2: Go back home and wait this period out. Prices should go down as soon as central bank lowers interest rate.

True that. I have never faced inflation or such direct impacts of interest rates like this. And the landlords are so greedy, even the ones without any monthly payments. They see rents going up and use inflation/interest rates as an excuse to do the exact same bull.

I am probably going to keep my expenses as low as possible, get a degree or something from here and get out no matter what. Even Alberta is going crazy from what I have heard.

 

[Deleted member 1083629]

s there anything that is non IT and also pays decently well if I make all the right moves and decisions career wise

Yes. Quant traders, consultants, anything with investments. Get ready to live at work (my friend makes 300K+ and constantly takes Aderall to cope with work) and have no life. To get in, you need to get masters in financial engineering, know your math very well and be able to pass several tough exams. Starting salary is in 100Ks. Oh yes, one mistake will ruin your career (jk, not that bad but it's very high stress job).

 

[Deleted member 1083629]

Even Alberta is going crazy from what I have heard.

Entire Canada is going downhill in that sense. However, it's not Canada only. We are entering a pretty bad recession.

 

[RSub]

Sorry for going slightly off-topic here but I'm pretty sure someone in this thread will be able to answer this question

Once I land as a PR, if I want to travel outside of Canada (by air) I need to have my PR card to be able to enter back or if I'm still waiting for the card I need PRTD - is this true even if I'm from visa exempt country? (I believe the answer is yes but just want to confirm)

Is getting PRTD relatively quick and easy or is it more of a last resort thing only if I MUST travel while waiting for my PR card?

No issues if you have US visa as you can travel by road to Canada from Us with COPR. Are you visa exempt to US as well??

 

[RSub]

Yes, IT or not, I want to study. I have a shitty Bachelor's with not that decent grades so I really want to study further and improve myself.

If you are from the IT field, do you have suggestions from me? I have devoured hours of youtube videos but they all of them seem click baity.




I landed here with my brother. He is on a study permit and his uni is in Toronto.. so he is way worse off than I am because he absolutely cannot move anywhere. But we are certainly considering to rent one place together. Get this though, he is living with his friends and paying approx 300 a month and I have a room of my own nearby in a TH and I am paying 800 a month, both all inclusive. Still cheaper than renting a house or an apartment.

I am limiting myself to Toronto coz, first my younger brother is here, secondly I really want to study further and if I wanna do that, I have a lot of options in Toronto (i think) and third, its the winter, I dont have a car and its my first time here. I might not be in Toronto once it gets warm.

Honestly when it comes to opportunities in IT, I must start somewhere, right? I don't know anything about the industry but I am sure with some proper training and education, I will be able to find something for myself... right?



Thanks. I will be doing that once the winter is over. I did not know ON would be this bad before coming here. And people who have been here say it has gotten this bad only after the inflation and housing bubble post covid. Was manageable before.



I have been looking at Windsor too.



True that. I have never faced inflation or such direct impacts of interest rates like this. And the landlords are so greedy, even the ones without any monthly payments. They see rents going up and use inflation/interest rates as an excuse to do the exact same bull.

I am probably going to keep my expenses as low as possible, get a degree or something from here and get out no matter what. Even Alberta is going crazy from what I have heard.

Its a good choice that you want to study. Go for MS instead of PGDM if you want to get real exposure. As a PR, its fairly easy to get admit and fees are super low. If you want to get into IT, definetly get skilled in few tools. You don’t necessarily need to everything. Focus on one area. Research a lot before pursuing the study route.

 

[seadrag0n]

Yes, IT or not, I want to study. I have a shitty Bachelor's with not that decent grades so I really want to study further and improve myself.

If you are from the IT field, do you have suggestions from me? I have devoured hours of youtube videos but they all of them seem click baity.

Assuming you don't have any experience in tech and if you really want to switch, then complete some fulltime course and try to get a job through placements and get some experience, after that you can switch jobs frequently for better pay. If you don't have much interest in programming, then try to get into stuff like cloud, devops etc., but developers are more in demand in general.

 

[AndyUK]

No issues if you have US visa as you can travel by road to Canada from Us with COPR. Are you visa exempt to US as well??

Yes, I'm US visa exempt too. I guess I will just wait for my PR card and if I have any emergency travel, I would fly back to Seattle and cross the land border (I'm moving to Vancouver).

 

[AndyUK]

I landed here with my brother. He is on a study permit and his uni is in Toronto.. so he is way worse off than I am because he absolutely cannot move anywhere. But we are certainly considering to rent one place together. Get this though, he is living with his friends and paying approx 300 a month and I have a room of my own nearby in a TH and I am paying 800 a month, both all inclusive. Still cheaper than renting a house or an apartment.

You should be happy you're not moving to the UK
As a reference, this is the cheapest all inclusive room you can find in Cambridge, UK. £500 so around 822 CAD per month. I'm pretty sure there are prison cells that look better than this
And yes, Cambridge may be a nice and expensive small city but it's hardly a match for Toronto

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128108687#/media?channel=RES_LET&id=media8&ref=photoCollage

 

[cansha]

Yeah, and competition is insane. Interviews in Canada are the hardest ones I have ever encountered. I mentioned here that I had an offer from Uber in Netherlands. In Canada, I couldn't even pass the 1st round; same position, same department, same level of seniority.

If you want to see (insanity)^infinity try interviewing for a tech position in bank. One of my friends showed me a JD and I was like what the heck the hiring manager is smoking. They have copied interview practices from FAANG and have unrealistic expectations and then cry about lack of talent.

 

[cansha]

So in less than a month from Landing here as a newcomer, I have gotten myself a job in my field (I work non-IT, non engineering procurement) to support my expenses during these cold winter months.

You need to pat yourself on the back and take this win. A lot of people end up doing survival jobs and you have managed to find a job in your field.

This is insane, I knew it was bad but this is just insane and I am not even married yet!

Yep it is and how much ever one may read about it outside Canada the true extent doesn't hit you unless you move. So, it is natural to feel this way.

There is no way I will be able to start a family if I continue working in Procurement. I am 28 now and I feel lost, and the only way I see out is getting into IT. Not too late but still a massive hurdle. Any suggestions? Is Trades a better idea than IT? Is there anything that is non IT and also pays decently well if I make all the right moves and decisions career wise? Or should I stick to Procurement and get deeper specialization in that?

You just started in Canada so it is understandable you are feeling overwhelmed. But you are quite young and will be better off in few years. Although IT may feel very lucrative (and it is) but unless you have some sort of background breaking in to Canadian market without experience will be mighty tough. And this will be further exacerbated by the flood of more experienced people vying for jobs after the massive layoffs that have happened just now.
If you are good with physical sort of work and have decent handyman skills; I would say do explore trades. Canada has massive shortage of trades people and long wait times for contractors. If you are good, you will be able to establish a business down the line and you can write off a lot of expenses as a business. I know contractors who have luxury cars on business names and writing off the cost to the business.